General election
New Zealand votes: Long queues at polling stations
A man casts his vote for the general election at a polling station in Auckland. There is a high voter turnout. photo
© Uncredited/kyodo/dpa
At the beginning of the year, Jacinda Ardern resigned as Prime Minister. Now their Social Democrats could succumb to the conservatives – but they too will probably have to rely on coalition partners.
Until recently, the conservative National Party with its top candidate Christopher Luxon (53), who wants to return to power after six years in the opposition, was ahead in surveys. The social democratic Labor Party has been in power since 2017 and since January of this year with Chris Hipkins (45) as Prime Minister after his world-famous predecessor Jacinda Ardern surprisingly resigned from office.
A close race is expected. Smaller parties will probably be decisive in forming a government, including the populist and nationalist New Zealand First with its leader Winston Peters, who has served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Pacific state several times.
Around 3.8 million citizens have been called to the polls. Voting has been possible since October 2nd, and around a million people took advantage of this offer before election day. Polling stations are open until 7:00 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. CEST). If there are still queues at this point, they could remain open longer, the electoral commission announced. Preliminary results are expected overnight.
To form a government, at least 61 of the 120 seats in parliament are required. If the result is very close, as expected, it could take weeks until a government is formed.